NEW ZEALAND ANNUAL DINNER

Dunstan Times, Issue 3360, 15 August 1927, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND ANNUAL DINNER

Brilliant speeches of prominent public men were made at the annual New Zealand Dinner Held at the Mayfair Hotel to-night. The chairman was the High Commissioner for New Zealand, Sir James Parr and the principal guest of the evening was the Secretary of State for the Dominions, the Et. Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery. The function was one of the most successful that has yet been held. Among the principal guests were the Bishop of London, Lord Jellicoe, Lord Liverpool, the Hon. Pember Beeves, and the Et. Hon. Sir Joseph Cook, .High Commissioner for Australia. Sir James Parr in proposing the toast of Mr Amery said there was no severer test of statesmanship than that of Minister for the Dominions, A tactless foolish action might have disastrous effects upon Europe. No such mistake, he said, was possible while Mr Amery was in office. His tact and sound understanding of Dominion temperament, and national aspirations amply fitted him for what could justly be termed the most important office in the Cabinet. Ecferring to the impending visit of Mr Amery to New Zealand, Sir James said that he could not conceive anything more beneficial to the relationships between the Dominion and the Mother country. He looked forward to the time when it would be a more common occasion for representatives of all phases of British activity not only of politics, but of art, of science and of industry to visit the Dominions and help to cement the bonds of Empire. Mr Amery rising amidst tempestuous applause declared that he wished to make clear to the /world that the Empire is not an organisation administered from one centre but a Commonwealth of self-governing countries inspired by common loyalties and ideals, depending upon personal contact and sympathy for the fulfilment of its common task. 'The Imperial Conferences had shown the value of this personal contact but it was no less desirable that in' the intervals between them the Ministers of the Home Cabinet should go out and get in touch with public men in the Dominions overseas and help to keep alive the spirit of Comradeship in the common effort and great task they have to carry out together. He personally was looking forward eagerly to renewing in New Zealand the" ties of old friendship and meeting those who at present were only names that would, soc’-i be the names of friends. He anticipated learning more from them of the national consciousness that was springing up amongst them and of their aspirations for carrying on their high destinies. Referring in jocular vein to his taste for mountaineering which had been mentioned by Sir James Parr, Mr Amery said there was no part of his visit he was anticipating with more pleasure than the few days—all too few —when ho would see the wonders of Egmont and Ruapehu. He would snatch a little respite from banquets and conferences to seek the solitude of the mountains. But that, however enjoyable, was only an aside. He wished tb become more seriously acquainted with that amazing little community 13,000 miles away—{Cheers) —which was building up an amazing trade and an amazing prosperity and supplying by their industry and enterprise no small part of the everyday commodities of the British people. But New Zealand he realised was not only a community of prosperous farmers and enterprising traders. It was a little community with a great heart and a great sense of its Imperial destiny and its part in world affairs. It was even a little Empire of its own, whoso Dominions —Mandates they were called—stretched from very near the Equator to the Arctic South Pole. The administration such as that led by Sir George Richardson provided a good example of what was understood by the word mandate —government for the'welfare of the people who lived undcir it. He was no less conscious of the aspirations of an Imperial race that, sound at heart and composed of the finest stock in the world has built up for itself a constitution such as systems of child welfare and. smmd education which have made New Zealand and of which we can well afford to be proud. Mr Pemberton Reeves began his proposal of the toast of “The Visitors” by referring to Lord Jellicoc’s taste for cricket and his propensity for stealing runs. Ho suggested amid laughter that if Lowry and Ins merry .mem wanted a little help lie should forcibly enlist Lord Jellicoe and double both the score and the attendance. 1 This he claimed would be justified on the ground that Lord Jellicoe was a New Zealander by adoption. The Bishop of London, he said, was by profession a lislicr of men; but during bis ctay in New Zealand he had enjoyed some passable sport with trout.—(Laughter). New Zealand anglers, he claimed, were the only ones who could tell the exact truth about the nature of the fish they caught. . The Bishop of London, in replying to the toast, said he would address himself chiefly to the hundred guests who were not citizens of New Zealand, and would recommend them to become New Zealanders for five reasons. He recommended the climate; the geysers which he had found very exciting; the fishing which he had found very exceptional; the warm hearts which were very encouraging: and the ideal British home-life one example of the warm hearts and warm welcome wits allorded him in Christchurch where lie arrived the same day' as the Duke of York. He spoke of the Duchess, with whose beauty he declared amid laughter he could not have hoped to compete. But the mayor had decided that although the Duke was to receive a civic welcome at 5 o’clock there must be one also for (he Bishop of London at 12. He discovered die Mayo” of Christchurch to he a Baptist minister, a Labour M.P., and a jolly good fellow (cheers). The Bishop concluded by saying “H I don’t lay my hones here in the Old Country as I 1 hope to do, 1 would prefer to lay them in New Zealand. 1 think of England as a mother who points with glowing pride to a beautiful daughter on the other side of flic world.” Tremendous applause greeted Lord Jellicoo when he rose to speak and when lie referred to the educational administration of Sir James Pair. He himself had a personal interest in that administration since lie had two children to educate in New Zealand. At Woodford House Ids children had learnt such useful arts as carpentry and book-keeping (laughter) and the good effects of all that he had put down to the credit of Sir James who was their Minister for Education. Sir James’s work in England, he said, covered a wide field of activity. lie himself had collaborated with Sir James in the selection of immigrants and also in considering the adequacy or otherwise of naval defence. As for the immigration selection lie could give an assurance that none but the most, suitable had been sent. “No modern democracy is going to stand unless it is based on a proper and sound education” declared Sir James Parr in replying to Lord Jellicoe. He said in his educational administration lie had been fortunate in having his old friend Mr W. F. Massey and now latterly Mr Coates-. He hoped* that the present standard of education in New Zealand would endure and that no undue saving had been made at its expense.